Now that I'm home with my bottle of gin, here are my thoughts for whatever they are worth.
1. Plenty of good work in the offensive zone after the first 6 minutes or so. Some bad luck. I have no doubt the goals will come.
2. I like the All Eggs in One Basket line on the PP, lots of good chances and good movement.
3. Tlusty looks like he is growing into a very quality PKer
4. The forward rotation or line construction is really hampered by the loss of Ruutu. Virtually no net drive other than Jordan and very little physical presence in the top 9.
5. The D group is horrendous in terms of depth and pairings. How many years is JR going to field a roster that is short at least 1 quality dman? I really liked Gleason and Faulk together. I could almost handle the Corvo-Harrison combo if Pitkanen was paired with a legit stay at home partner. Sanguinetti is not an NHL dman, we've seen enough.
6. Garon was spectacular with rebound control against the Canes.......again.
7. Larose is either out of shape or he is done. At least two steps slow all night despite good effort.

This team stinks....and as others have said before me, it starts with the Defense. Its hard to score goals with the forwards you "upgraded" to if your defense cant get the puck away from the other team.

So, we have our whipping boys firmly established already. Good start to the season.

I like that it's universally recognized that our D is sub-NHL level and yet a new goalie is what we need. Because playing your backup behind an AHL defense will yield strong results every time, I guess.

Anyway. It's a frustrating week. Just like every other first and last week of every season since 2006. The fans are cranky and I can only imagine how the players feel. Hopefully this blows over quickly.

This obsession with Ellis is funny. What indication is there that he's going to suddenly become the goaltender he hasn't been the past couple years?

What indication is there that Ward is suddenly going to be worthy of his massive salary and all the accolades he gets from a cult-like fanbase and fawning press?

The FSN broadcast team that would put Goebbels to shame is responsible for this mess. Year after year it's "Cam Ward says no!" and "Great save!" after every routine stop, while every goal is either a fluke bounce or the responsibility of a convenient scapegoat on D, usually one who is European. Because of seven years of this crap, fans would burn down the ESARBCPNC if Ward was traded. You can see the sell job by John/Tripp kicking into overdrive this year as W4rd is already up to at least 4 or 5 softies 80 minutes into his season.

For a team with no defense I'm wondering where the heck our offense is also?

Anything to base that on? Nope. Ellis has played two periods and let in 1 goal. Cam has played 4 periods and let in 9. It might make sense to give Ellis another go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anton Dubinchuk

Gotcha

Come on, man, don't you know that Ward was playing with his Ellis voodoo doll during the 2nd period? Ward is jealous of Ellis because the players like Ellis better. Cam thinks he's better than everybody because of that Conn Smythe and it really grates on the rest of the team, so everybody likes Ellis better and will play harder for him. It's just like the Staals hating Skinner. BTW wouldn't it be great if the Maple Leafs and Habs were relocated to Mexico City and Tijuana?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Summer Ruutu

What indication is there that Ward is suddenly going to be worthy of his massive salary and all the accolades he gets from a cult-like fanbase and fawning press?

The FSN broadcast team that would put Goebbels to shame is responsible for this mess. Year after year it's "Cam Ward says no!" and "Great save!" after every routine stop, while every goal is either a fluke bounce or the responsibility of a convenient scapegoat on D, usually one who is European. Because of seven years of this crap, fans would burn down the ESARBCPNC if Ward was traded. You can see the sell job by John/Tripp kicking into overdrive this year as W4rd is already up to at least 4 or 5 softies 80 minutes into his season.

For what it's worth, *every* goalie gets the "xxx says no" treatment from Forslund, it's just his schtick for a save. I recall Gerber, Grahame, Peters, Pogge, Leighton, Legace, Murphy, and Boucher all getting the same treatment whenever they made a save. I don't think it's a sell job, jus his broadcasting trademark akin to "Now that's hockey" or "hey hey what do you say" after a goal or "keep America in your thoughts and prayers" to close out the broadcast.

The appalling thing to me was the good/not great 2nd period followed by a completely flat 3rd period. They had no legs. We've said this before, but I guess it needs reiterating. The team can't pick and choose which periods they show up to. It has to be a full game effort and this game wasn't that.

If Ellis had started that game he wouldn't have let in that goal. Coming in cold off the bench after your "elite" "franchise" "goalie" makes it all the way to the 20 minute mark of the season is difficult.

Honestly, at least in the building, I thought Corvo looked a lot better tonight. Gotta love that slapper from the top of the circles. That's the one thing he's good for - at least he'll ****ing shoot the puck.

For what it's worth, *every* goalie gets the "xxx says no" treatment from Forslund, it's just his schtick for a save. I recall Gerber, Grahame, Peters, Pogge, Leighton, Legace, Murphy, and Boucher all getting the same treatment whenever they made a save. I don't think it's a sell job, jus his broadcasting trademark akin to "Now that's hockey" or "hey hey what do you say" after a goal or "keep America in your thoughts and prayers" to close out the broadcast.

I don't recall Pogge ever playing for the Canes, let alone making a decent save...

Honestly, at least in the building, I thought Corvo looked a lot better tonight. Gotta love that slapper from the top of the circles. That's the one thing he's good for - at least he'll ****ing shoot the puck.

Yeah, he'll miss on 3/5, get block on 1/5, but he'll get a shot on the goalies crest on that last 1/5!

What indication is there that Ward is suddenly going to be worthy of his massive salary and all the accolades he gets from a cult-like fanbase and fawning press?

The FSN broadcast team that would put Goebbels to shame is responsible for this mess. Year after year it's "Cam Ward says no!" and "Great save!" after every routine stop, while every goal is either a fluke bounce or the responsibility of a convenient scapegoat on D, usually one who is European. Because of seven years of this crap, fans would burn down the ESARBCPNC if Ward was traded. You can see the sell job by John/Tripp kicking into overdrive this year as W4rd is already up to at least 4 or 5 softies 80 minutes into his season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anton Dubinchuk

I don't recall Pogge ever playing for the Canes, let alone making a decent save...

I would have *sworn* Pogge made one appearance in a game during his time in the system. I take Pogge back, but the point still stands that its less sell job than Forslund's broadcasting trademark.

Honestly, at least in the building, I thought Corvo looked a lot better tonight. Gotta love that slapper from the top of the circles. That's the one thing he's good for - at least he'll ****ing shoot the puck.

He did look better, that's true, but he wasn't exactly good. His hockey sense is just unbelievably bad at times, making blind passes that go directly to an opponent. But at least he wasn't Sanguinetti bad.